At the End of it All
by Captain 'Murica
Summary: The Pokemon World has gone to Hell in the form of a zombie outbreak that has affected every human. However, there are several groups of brave Pokemon attempting to not just survive the epidemic, but to cure it. Many obstacles will have to be hurdled, but our heroes are set on their goal, no matter how insurmountable the odds may seem. Rated T for violence and mild language.
1. Prologue

**Hello one and all, this is a fiction that I posted the first few chapters of a while ago on a different site, and I wanted to spread the love here. (Because I know you all were just ****_dying _****to see my fic.)**

**It's not too great, I know this, so don't hesitate to let me know what I can improve upon, so I can make this story as good as possible. **

**Starts off a little lamely, but anyway, here it is: **

* * *

Prologue

Electivire peered through a trash can in the middle of the city streets, which was oddly, but luckily for him, deserted at this time of day.

_This should last... a second_ he thought to himself, sighing and pulling out a single banana peel, inspecting it with a scowl on his face.

He couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for himself, he didn't exactly live in a great situation.

You see, Electivire lived on the outskirts of the big city in an old abandoned building that never was fully constructed, sharing in his habitat with his wife and son, Electabuzz and Elekid, and his best friend Magmortar, along with his wife and son, Magmar and Magby. They lived a very simple life, every day stealthily sneaking through the city and scavenging for food and supplies, whilst avoiding the humans, who would surely try to enslave them in one of those small, red and white balls.

He shuddered, just the other day, one of their friends - Crobat - had been captured in one of those... _things_, and there was nothing he could've done to help him; he and Magmortar could do nothing but run for their lives to avoid the wrath of the trainer's Scyther and Scizor.

It was rough living, but the only way he had ever known it, so even though the harsh winters and scarce food could be a drag, and even though he longed to live a better life, he didn't mind it as much as I'm sure others would have if they were in his shoes.

Suddenly, Electivire was jarred back to the present in the form of a nudge in the ribs from his dear friend Magmortar.

"It's time to go back man, getting dark, what'd you get?"

Electivire held up the banana peel.

"Well," said Magmortar, searching for a positive. "Its color matches you."

Electivire let out a chuckle, putting a hand on Magmortar's shoulder. "No matter what happens to us, at least we'll always have each other to keep us in good spirits."

Magmortar shot him a hearty grin, then turned to lead him down the still strangely deserted street.

"So, you get any good stuff?" Electivire asked.

"Nope, I had a bit of a run-in with Houndoom though," Magmortar offered. "That son-of-a-bitch considers the whole damn city his territory."

Electivre nodded. "Yeah, that guy's really starting to get on my nerves. D'ya think we should do something about him?"

Magmortar looked at Electivire solemnly. "I think we teach him a thing or two about where he can be and where he can't, mostly the opposite end of my cannons," he said, displaying the intimidating cannons at the end of his arm.

Electivire laughed. "Yeah, that-" suddenly he stopped, there perched on a bench was a large, purple bat with four long wings.

"Crobat!" Electivre shouted in joy, rushing over to his friend with Magmortar in tow. "What's going on, how'd you get away from that asshole?"

All of a sudden, they noticed the bat was shivering, looking ahead as though lost in a trance.

"Uh, you follow bro?" Electivire asked, waving a hand in front of Crobat's face while Magmortar whistled for his attention.

Suddenly, Crobat let out a loud gasp, startling Electivire and Magmortar, and making them jump back in surprise.

"Coming! The- the- the- the- the- they're coming," he stuttered, frantically fluttering in the air looking left and right.

"Who's coming?" asked Magmortar in a concerned voice.

Crobat held their gaze for a few seconds, a look of pure terror grasping his face. "Them," he said simply. With that, he took off into the air, soaring into the sunset.

Electivire and Magmortar exchanged troubled looks, then gingerly continued on.

"What the hell do you reckon that was?" Magmortar asked.

"I don't know, but it creeped me the f-", with that he cut out, suddenly noticing a chorus of growls coming from an alleyway to their left.

He and Magmortar slowly turned to the left, noticing thousands of blood-red eyes looking their direction in the fading sunlight.

Then, the eyes drew nearer, revealing in the dying rays of light the bodies of hundereds of humans sprinting towards them, tripping over each other in their haste to get at Electivire and Magmortar.

"El," said Magmortar. "I think we outta go."

Electivire agreed, and they both turned and took off in the other direction, the savages only 25 yards away at this point.

But their escape died quickly, as Electivire tripped over the curb, stumbling to the ground, and looking up with horror as the demented humans loomed just above him.

Suddenly, bright red flames burst forth from Magmortar's arms, consuming the crowd in it. They didn't seem bothered by the fact that they were on fire, but they did turn their attention towards Magmortar, the front lines of the crowd reversing direction.

This gave Electivire enough time to scamper to his feet before the rest of the herd started to regain interest in him, which they did, pursuing him as he took off down the road after Magmortar and the flaming horde behind him.

Slowly but surely, the crowd in front of Electivire began to drop like flies, unable to stand after being consumed by too much fire. After all of those were lying on the ground, unable to move, Electivire gave a burst of speed, catching up with Magmortar, the larger crowd still trailing them.

"What do we do?" Magmortar asked, exhausted and panicked.

"We need to get to our families, and get the hell out of this city!" came the answer.

* * *

Thousands of miles away, a certain legendary Pokémon stood in his chambers, gazing into a roaring fire dancing in his hearth.

Another Pokémon entered the room. "It has started, my lord," the nervous Pokémon timidly announced.

A joy crept into the master Pokémon's heart, such as he hadn't felt in years.

"Good," he smirked, the pieces of the puzzle were finally beginning to fall into place.

* * *

**So... yeah! That's it for the first chapter/prologue. I know that was pretty short, but I promise they will keep getting longer. I already have the next few chapters written up, but I'm going to wait a bit to post them, so I can gather a couple reviews or so. Thanks for reading! **


	2. On the Run

**Here's the next chapter. I was originally going to wait at least a day before updating, but I realized I just needed to get this out as soon as possible, because I don't really want the prologue alone up for too long, since it's short and not that good. **

* * *

Chapter One: On the Run

Squirtle stood on a long, rectangular table in the middle of a medium-sized room, filled with all sorts of laboratory equipment. The walls at the far end of the room were littered with three windows, and a descending staircase complimented the opposite end of the wall.

He was not alone in this laboratory, however, with him were fourteen other Pokémon, starters like him, who were all waiting very impatiently for a young trainer to march upstairs and choose one of them to help him begin a long, exciting adventure.

None of them had any real battle experience, however, but they were all nonetheless very confident, except for Cyndaquil, who was a timid little fellow. "Oh, I just know I'm gonna be chosen by the roughest, angriest, and meanest trainer possible," he suddenly sighed nervously.

"Don't be afraid, I'm sure everything will turn out just fine," Bulbasuar said with a reassuring smile. He was the oldest of the bunch, and also the most comforting.

"Fine, HA!" exclaimed Totodile. "This ugly-ass mole won't last a second out there," He stood up and crossed his arms confidently. "The world is no place for pussies like these."

"Shut up," said Squirtle, suddenly interjecting himself into the conversation. "Man, why do you always have to put him down like that?"

"What choo' got to say about it, tough guy?" Totodile smirked at him. "You wanna fight, I'll be more than happy to mess up your face, or I would, if your mother hadn't done that for me."

Squirtle stood facing Totodile, offering a small smile; he didn't fall for such simple-minded taunts. "And I'd be willing to think up a come-back, but there's no need against such an old insult. What is this, 1940?"

Totodile smirked at him again. "That's okay, you won't be able to talk at all once I'm through with you," he said, launching himself at Squirtle, fangs barred.

Fast as light, Squirtle shot into his shell, nullifying the damage from Totodile's fangs, and causing him to cry out in pain as his teeth made contact with that the shell. Then, Squirtle shot out of his shell and offered the small crocodille a water gun, spraying him right in the face and sending him flying through the air, and to the edge of the table where he slid off, but grabbed the edge and pulled himself up.

"You're gonna regret that," Totodile glared at him, no longer acting sarcastic or smug. With that, he let out a water gun, which then turned its aim to the ceiling and died out, as Treecko had tackled Totodile to the ground.

"Knock it off you two!" Bulbasaur screamed at the other end of the table, restraining Squirtle. "Professor Oak and the first new trainer are coming up the stairs right now, snap out of it."

With that announcement, all fifteen of them rushed to the center of the table, putting on their best faces, aiming to impress.

Squirtle, luckily, got a spot away from the center of the circle, unluckily next to Chikorita, who blabbed into his ear about making poor decisions and such. He sighed, Chikorita was a very bossy Pokémon, and the ranting chatter fell as wordless nonsense into Squirtle's ears.

Suddenly, Chickorita, and everyone else at the table shut up, as Professor Oak appeared at the top of the stairs.

However, something was very odd about him, not his clothes or hair, which consisted of a lab-coat, and stone-grey hair as always, it was his eyes, his eyes were red, and his mouth broke into a mad snarl when he saw the young pokemon.

He then dashed insanely towards the table, and in a truly frightening fashion, seized poor little Chikorita with his hands and sunk his teeth into her skull, tearing a big chunk of flesh off, killing her instantly.

Every Pokémon in the room stood in shock for what seemed like ages, until Oak lost interest in muching on Chikorita, and reached out for a trembling Cyndaquil.

* * *

A tall, metal door burst open, and two pokemon rushed into a warehouse-like room, promptly shutting the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Shouted Electzbuzz from the far side of the warehouse, getting up and walking over to her husband, followed by Magmar, Elekid, and Magby.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE DOOR!" Magmortar ordered, assisting Electivire in barricading it shut, which looked like it wasn't working, because it seemed like the door was about to burst out of it's hinges.

"What's going on?" A worried Magmar repeated.

"I need you to do as he says," Electivire responded in a calmer voice than his friend. "All of you need to get out and take the road headed northwest, and meet us at the Valero Gas Station about 2 miles from here. I have no idea what's happening, but I do know that we need to flee this city, now."

They all ran to the far side of the room and out through a portion of the wall which had never been constructed fully, everyone clearly grasping the gravity of the situation, everyone except Elekid that is, who remained behind, staring up at his father and his friend.

"Go, son, flee with your family," Electivire managed to gently say, despite being continuously tossed around by the angry door.

"You are my family," Elekid said, tears starting to form in his eyes.

Electivire gave him a look of regret and sadness, then began to argue back, but he was interrupted.

"ELEKID, COME ON!" Electabuzz frantically screamed, her head appearing through the wall again.

But before anyone else could say anything, the door finally gave way, coming free off its hinges and sending Electivire, Magmortar and Elekid soaring through the air.

"Everyone run," Electivire ordered hastily while scampering to his feet, realizing if he stayed behind, so would his son.

With that, the three of them took off toward the opening in the wall where Electabuzz was beckoning frantically, each of them leaping out in turn, then taking off down the road, monsters once again right behind them.

"Magmar and Magby have already left," Electabuzz panted.

"As should you and Elekid have," Electivire responded, looking back to see if they had made any progress in losing the herd. They hadn't, things were beginning to look very bleak.

* * *

Squirtle quickly snapped out of his shock and horror, defending Cyndaquil with a mighty Water Gun. He was not the only one who had acted, Mudkip let Oak have his Mud-Shot, Turtwig sent out his Razor Leaf, and Bulbasuar released his vines into Professor Oak's face. Treecko was even bold enough to smack him in the face with his tail, Pound-style.

This only sent him stumbling back a little, however, and he soon doubled back, angrier than ever.

"Treecko, run!" Mudkip shouted, as the demented professor reached for Treecko.

Treecko skillfully avoided Oak's outstretched hands, then joined the rest of the starters, who were all shouting incoherently, and bolting for the windows.

Snivy reached one first, and he burst through them, not bothering to stop and open it. The rest all followed suite one at a time, and it seemed they were all going to make it, until Tepig tripped over a discarded coffee cup lying on the ground.

Bulbasuar, who was the last pokemon in the room yelled out from the window sill. "I've got you buddy!" Then, he extended his vines and wrapped Tepig in them, pulling him in and just barely missing Oak's outstretched arms. Once he was safely secured, Bulbasaur leaped out the window with Tepig on his back, landing in the bushes, which provided a great cushion for an otherwise very painful 12 foot fall.

The outside world did not at all reflect the terrifying situation, it was positively pleasant, with nothing but green grass, beautiful houses, and blue sky as far as the eye could see.

However, there was no time to admire the view, or mourn over their lost friend, as Professor Oak soon stumbled through the window and landed on the ground with a thud.

They all scurried to their feet, and took off down the lawn towards the country-road that ran throughout the town. They all started down the road at as quick a pace as possible, no one daring to look around and see if they had lost Professor Oak.

However, soon they noticed the growling increase in volume, so Squirtle, wondering what was going on turned his head towards the chaos and was greeted with a view of seven more monsters tumbling along behind them, and there appeared to be a Pikachu just ahead of the monsters, being chased as well.

"Help!" the poor yellow rodent cried out.

With this plea for help, half of the starters wheeled around, each letting out their fiercest attacks towards the mutants, while the other half continued on.

These attacks put enough distance between Pikachu and the attackers, as they all stumbled back a little, but still kept pursuing, and soon the small mouse caught up with them.

"Thanks," he hurriedly said.

As they all turned around and began to catch up with the others, they noticed more people streaming out of the houses and joining the herd, until they numbered at around a hundred.

"What do we do?" Torchic finally offered.

"I don't know," Charmander panted back. "Let's just keep running."

But they all knew they couldn't run for ever, for one thing they'd all tire out eventually, and for another, there loomed a deep and long canyon at the edge of the town in the direction they were headed.

There was no way to go sideways or backwards to escape this impending doom; if they went sideways, the long crowd would eventually catch up with them, and if they went backwards, well, I think you know what would happen if they went backwards.

Before long, they had reached the dreaded precipice, and panic set in on them, and they soon began to blame each other, and argue, and fight.

"Everyone shut up!" Treecko exclaimed, as the crowd drew within a couple hundred feet. "We all need to get up, quit arguing and make a stand."

They all agreed, so they all let out their strongest long-ranged attacks, throwing out their last hope into the wind, hoping they would at least go down fighting.

But it was useless, the herd, though delayed from the attacks, was drawing freakishly close now.

Squirtle took a long blink, gulped, and prepared to die, but then, suddenly, a black, feline creature came bounding gracefully over the heads of the maniacs, spun around in mid-air, and let out a dark ray of energy, which sent a large portion of the crowd flying into the air, before landing on all fours and sliding back a little, kicking up dirt and dust.

The feline was Umbreon.

"Flee now, little ones," came the surprisingly deep voice of Umbreon. "Do not hesitate, run straight and true through the passageway I have provided you. I shall keep them at bay."

Sure enough, his extremely powerful Dark Pulse had created a large hole in the mob, which the starters darted to as quickly as possible, while Umbreon fired off more of his Dark Pulses.

However, soon they heard a cry: Tepig had backed up too far, and had tumbled off the cliff.

Bulbasaur, showing no hesitation, darted to the cliffside as quick as an arrow, throwing out his vines, and catching Tepig skillfully around the middle. Still, Tepig was heavy, and Bulbasuar was beginning to slip off the edge as well.

Squirtle, Treecko, and Pikachu all saw what was going on, and doubled back, while the others, either unaware or uncaring at the moment, proceeded back towards Pallet Town.

Treecko got there first, and it was just at the right time, as Bulbasaur slipped of the edge at that very moment, and Treecko caught him.

Treecko too began to fall, but Squirtle caught him, and Pikachu in turn caught Squirtle.

So there they stood, all hanging off the edge of a cliff, each grabbing on to each other, with Pikachu at the top, straining with every muscle in his body to keep them all from falling to certain doom.

But he could not hold on forever, and on top of that, three monsters were heading towards them, ready to use their disadvantages to their advantage.

"JUMP!" came the sudden, unexpected voice of Bulbasaur.

"What?" Asked everyone else, puzzled and frightened.

"Just do it, and hold on to each other tight!" came the answer.

So Pikachu, having nothing to lose, held his breath, and plunged into the abyss.

* * *

**And so, I leave you here with (almost literally) a cliffhanger! **

**Thanks a lot for reading. Reviews are always appreciated. **


	3. Despair Strikes

**Thanks very much to my first ****couple of followers! I hope you all continue enjoying the story. **

* * *

Chapter Two: Despair Strikes

"I think we've lost them!" Turtwig announced, looking back. Suddenly, he paused. He realized the herd of monsters wasn't the only thing they had lost.

They burst into a nearby house, breaching the door and stacking everything they could in front. Then, for the first time in what felt like a millennium, they could relax.

But there was an issue to be addressed, the problem that Turtwig had noticed earlier.

"Where are the others?" a concerned Piplup asked. She was the only female Pokémon left in their group, after what happened to Chikorita.

"Probably went the same way Chikorita did," Totodile rudely acknowledged.

Mudkip and Turtwig both glared at him, then Mudkip said, "We need to go back for them."

"Risk everyone over those losers? Hell no," Totodile snorted impatiently.

"We'll put it to a vote," Turtwig said, taking a position above everyone else on the couch and looking down at everybody, so as to make his announcement official.

"No, I have already made my decision," Totodile stated matter-of-factly. "We will stay here for the night."

Turtwig snorted. "No one put you in charge," he said.

Totodile leaped up to join him on the couch, shoving his snout in Turtwig's face. "I did," he boldly exclaimed. "Do you have anything to say about it?" With this, he let out a water gun which Turtwig ducked under.

Turtwig gave him a growl, suggesting he was not to be tangled with. "If you want to settle things in this barbaric manner, so be it."

Mudkip jumped up to join them on the couch. "You'll have to take on both of us," he declared.

With that, both Mudkip and Turtwig charged him at the same time, coming from opposite ends of the couch. Totodile hopped over their heads just as they were closing in, forcing them to painfully bump into each other. Then, he picked Turtwig up by the head with his jaw and flung him off the couch, sending him slamming onto the ground with a cringe-worthy cracking sound, just narrowly missing Chimchar who scampered out of the way in the nick of time.

Mudkip quickly recovered and rushed at Totodile, wrestling with him until they both fell to the ground. Totodile recovered faster and jumped to his feet, unleashing a water gun which scooped Mudkip up, sending him crashing into Turtwig, and sending both of them into a rather unpleasant meeting with the wall.

"Ah, hell yeah!" Totodile yelled proudly, holding his arms high, and dancing in victory.

Just at that time, Chimchar decided to step up, launching a flamethrower at the distracted Totodile. This did nothing but anger the little crocodile, who slowly turned towards Chimchar, an expression of hatred and rage gripping his face. Then, without a word, he let an extra powerful water gun escape from his jaws, sending Chimchar flying through the air, into a vase, breaking it and leaving Chimchar out cold.

"Anyone else?" Totodile challenged viciously, rotating around on his feet so he could see everyone. "Good," he finished when no one stood up.

Mudkip slowly eased himself up grimacing in pain as he did so. "You may be our leader," he said. "But you will never gain our true respect. When we find Bulbasuar and the others, I imagine there will be no place in the group for a cowardly assholes like you."

Totodile paid no attention to this threat, instead directing his gaze towards Cyndaquil, who had been whimpering in the corner the whole time. "YOU! SHUT THE HELL UP!" he roared. The fire-mole promptly quieted down.

At this, Mudkip started to limp towards Totodile. "You had better knock it off, you treating him like that," he lectured. "He's _one month old_."

Totodile scoffed. "When I was a month old, I had to survive by myself in the rain forest. If it weren't for Professor Oak finding me, I would have died."

Mudkip in turn scoffed as well. "If you want to turn this into a competition, when I was three weeks old, barely more than 10 inches long, Kyogre attacked my nest, killing my entire family. I was the only one to escape, and I had to swim to shore 12 miles away," with that several of the other pokemon let out gasps, "but it doesn't matter what happened to you or I at his age, he has been raised in a human household, so you can't expect him to act any differently. Had you been raised in the same environment, I'm sure you'd have reacted similarly."

With that, Mudkip limped up the stairs, followed by Turtwig, who appeared to have broken some kind of bone in his back right leg. Totodile quickly disguised a look of awe and impression that had snuck upon his face, then ordered, "To bed everyone, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

* * *

Everyone let out a scream as Pikachu dove into the depths, when Bulbasaur repeated the order to hang on tight to each other, and everyone shut up and concentrated, wondering if Bulbasuar had any real idea on how to save them.

Soon they learned he did, for after about 30 feet of free-falling, Bulbasaur swung one of his vines around some kind of large, thick root sticking out of the canyon wall, the other vine gripping Tepig tightly.

Everyone screamed like they were on a roller-coaster ride, and clutched each other even tighter as Bulbasaur performed a loop-de-loop around the branch, then began to free-fall again.

After about 50 feet, Bulbasaur grabbed another one, but was not graceful at all with this one, and they all fell straight down as Bulbasaur's vine straightened out with a twang which made them all dance around a little as the vine wiggled around from the impact.

After a long silence, Bulbasaur shouted. "There's no more roots, we're just gonna have to aim for those trees!" He declared, referring to a clump of trees about 50 more feet under them.

"ARE YOU INSANE?" Treecko challenged.

"There's no other option," came the answer, as Bulbasaur released his grip, sending them all plummeting towards the greenery.

They all screamed and disconnected with each other, flailing around wildly, until they one-by-one made contact with the leaves of the trees after what felt like ages of falling, tumbling through the branches and landing on top of each other.

Treecko was the first to his feet, dusting himself off and scowling at Tepig. "What is wrong with you?" he demanded. "It's a miracle any of us are still alive."

"This could very well be a better bet than what Pallet Town has to offer," Bulbasaur argued realistically, trying to reassure Tepig, who had nodded his head in shame.

"I sure hope the others are okay," Squirtle offered into the conversation. "How are we supposed to get back up?"

"I don't know that we want to," Pikachu said. "Like Bulbasaur said, this place is probably safer."

"No, he's right," said Bulbasaur. "We can't just abandon the others to possible torment and death."

"Whatever we do," Treecko interjected. "We ought to get moving now, look for food and shelter."

They all agreed, and started moving down a lovely dirt path, which ran parallel to a crystal clear river, which wound its way all throughout the canyon alongside a forest on the other side of them.

The longer they walked, the more they talked about the current horrible situation they were in, and what could possibly have caused such a horrible plague, which is what they figured it was. And, dodge it as they might, the conversation soon steered in the direction of Chikorita, a horrific topic that was still fresh on their minds.

"She was the bossiest poke you'd ever meet," Squirtle eulogized. "But damn it, she did it because she cared about us, and didn't want us to get hurt," he finished, his voice choking a little.

"I'm awfully sorry," Pikachu expressed. "Sounds like a great Pokémon."

"She was," they all agreed.

Suddenly, they all came to a stop, for they noticed the same feline creature that had saved them earlier standing further down the road, staring right at them, not saying a word or moving an inch.

They cautiously approached him, then Squirtle and Bulbasaur both expressed their gratitude. "Thank you for saving us," they chanted in unison.

Pikachu and Tepig expressed their thanks as well. "Yeah," Treecko offered.

After a few seconds of silence, Umbreon's face broke into sad smile. "Do not thank me my friends, only a coward would allow such a helpless lot to be consumed by those vile creatures."

"HELPLESS!" Treecko steamed, his face turning red. "We are perfectly capable of fending those monsters off ourselves, thank you very much."

"Forgive me, young lizard," Umbreon offered a smile. "I did not mean to offend, I'm sure you are a mighty warrior."

This caused Treecko's face to turn a different shade of red, for a different reason.

"If you don't mind me asking," Squirtle began, trying to break the silence that followed. "Where is it you come from?"

"Not at all, not at all," Umbreon answered. "Let us continue our stroll down this beautiful path. I have a long tale to tell."

So they began down the path again, then Umbreon spoke after several moments of silence. "I come from the northern lands were my family dwells. We are a mighty clan, my siblings and I. I rule alongside my siblings and wife Espeon in a beautiful Pokémon kingdom, about 50 kilometers north of Kanto, or at least I did rule alongside them, until I was banished."

A long silence followed, then, "Please continue," Squirtle pleaded.

"Yes of course," Umbreon said, snapping back into the present time, after his mind had wondered far back. "I cannot tell you why I was banished presently, I'm afraid it is a rather sensitive matter, but in time, perhaps I shall. In the meantime, the reason I was passing through this area was to seek council with a dear friend of mine, whom you shall make acquaintance with later. That is where we are headed now."

"But we need to get back to our friends!" Bulbasaur exclaimed. "We can't just leave them!"

"Fear not," Umbreon confidently stated. "I am well aware of your situation. That is why I descended into this valley in the first place, to retrieve you folks. You see, my friend is located in the town which your friends have disappeared into. We can search for them once we are done doing business, which shouldn't take more than an hour or so."

"That sounds good," came the response.

After they had been walking a little while longer, Pikachu raised the question that was pressed on everyone's mind. "What happened to the humans, do you have any idea?"

Umbreon stopped dead in his tracks, heaved a deep sigh, and said, "I have an idea, yes," everyone looked him in shock, having not expected that answer. "From what I've heard, it sounds as though Arceus is the one responsible. He seems to have invented and spread a virus that has stricken the poor humans with an unquenchable hunger, and turned off their nervous system, making them unable to think for themselves."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Squirtle gasped.

"I don't know, no one but him does, however, there is one thing that is certain: the humans, with what they've become now… they will never stop hunting you and I."

* * *

No one except Totodile slept that night, and after Chimchar regained consciousness, everyone in the living room began to grumble and complain about the new leadership, a conversation that continued until morning, when Totodile walked into the room, stretching and looking well rested.

"Well, time to get moving," he declared.

No one grumbled or complained this time, in front of his face, busily setting about removing the stacked furniture from in front of the door.

"Move faster. We need to use every second of daylight to our advantage," Totodile ordered, spectating from the couch.

"See what I mean, you'll never earn our respect with that attitude," Mudkip said, descending down the staircase.

Totodile wheeled around. "Both of you," he started, referring to both Mudkip and Turtwig, who had just joined Mudkip, limping beside him. "Get busy, before I break your other legs."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Mudkip sarcastically responded, moving to help Torchic with a chair.

Before long, the debris was cleared away, and Totodile leaped from the couch. "Alright, Torchic," he said, looking at the small orange chick. "You go out and scout the area. You're the smallest, so you'll be hard to find. If the coast is clear, come report back. If not, run the other direction and let them chase you."

Torchic looked horrified and shocked, and didn't know quite what to say, so Mudkip rolled his eyes at Totodile and said, "I'll do it."

"Fine, let's hope there are hundreds of them to finish you off," he smirked.

"No," came a surprising voice. "Let me go," it was Cyndaquil.

Mudkip looked at him in disbelief as Totodile gave a devious grin. "No you're not ready for this," Mudkip stammered. "Y-you can't even use fire attacks yet."

"Those stories about what you and Tot did at my age, they really left a mark," Cyndaquil gulped. "I'm ready to prove my worth, besides Mudkip, you're hurt."

"That's right," Piplup butted in. "You're much less up to the task than he is, Mudkip. You and Turtwig deserve a rest," she said, glaring at Totodile.  
"I'll go with him," she finished.

"As will I," came another surprising voice, that of Chimchar. "But we will come back, even if there's danger."

"Fine," Totodile groaned. "But expect us to be gone before you return if you have guests."

"Fair enough," agreed Piplup, Cyndaquil, and Chimchar.

Before long, they were all at the threshold, ready to go out into the dangerous world.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Mudkip asked Cyndaquil one last time.

"No, but I'll have Pip and Chim to help me out. They're great," he said, as Piplup and Chimchar beamed at him.

"Get outta here, I'm getting impatient," Totodile ordered, stamping his feet.

"Right," said Chimchar. "See you in a few."

With that, the trio slowly crept through the door, and, luckily, were greeted with a normal view of the town, which meant no monsters.

"Let's go," Chimchar said.

So on they went, creeping slowly from yard to yard, sticking to the walls of the outside of the house, and peering around corners. On they ventured, until they got to the last house that was next to the street, and peered around it, treated with a view of about 150 monsters, they quickly shot back before any of them could see them.

"Did they see us?" a very nervous Cyndaquil panicked.

"I don't think so," said Piplup, breathing a sigh of relief.

"We'd better head back," said Chimchar.

So they all turned around to go back… and nearly jumped out of their skins as they saw a single monster heading their way, coming from their base's direction.

Chimchar quickly burrowed under the ground, then shot up, using Dig on the maniac. He hit the target, but when he climbed out, he discovered that he had hit Cyndaquil as well, causing him to slam against the wall of the house, and fall to the ground loudly. The noise attracted the larger group of monsters, unfortunately, and they were on the poor Pokémon as quick as lightning.

Chimchar, realizing he had caused this, knew he had to take action, so he said to Piplup, "Take Cyndaquil and meet me back at the house. I'll cover our escape."

Piplup nodded, scooping Cyndaquil up and taking off while Chimchar stayed behind, acquainting the monsters with his Dig attack. Piplup had barely run a few meters, before she glimpsed another herd of demons coming out from the yard of a distant house beyond where their camp was set up. Piplup took note of this, and decided to lead the monsters towards the train station, then double-back towards the house they were staying in.

Before she acted on the plan, however, she took a moment to turn towards the battling Chimchar to signal for him to follow, and promptly stood in shock, when she witnessed what she did: the savages had managed to grab Chimchar as he came out of the ground, and were now getting on their knees and tearing him apart, each trying to get a piece of him.

In this moment, time and space seemed to stand still as she continued to watch in horror, when suddenly she realized that the other crowd of demons had just about caught up with her. Her first thought was to attack, uncaring what would befall her, as revenge for what those monsters had done, and what they were going to do. But then, with tears of despair running down her cheeks, she realized that she had to take care of Cyndaquil, so she gripped him tight, and hustled off towards the middle of town, the ravenous mob within feet of her.

* * *

**That's all for now. I should have the next chapter out before too long, seeing as how it's already written up; all I need to do is edit and whatnot. **

**If you enjoyed, please leave a review. If you didn't enjoy, please leave a review, so I can see what I need to improve on. **

**Thanks a bunch for taking your time to read my humble little story. **


	4. No Rest for the Weary

Chapter Three: No Rest for the Weary

Electivire was bending over, his hands on his knees, gasping for air. They had all just sprinted two miles straight, and were finally at the gas station where Magby and Magmar sat waiting worriedly for them.

However, though they had reached their temporary destination, they were certainly not out of trouble, for there loomed the same herd of savages that had been chasing them this whole time about five-hundred yards in the distance, still barreling towards them with vicious growls and intentions.

Electivire forced himself up, knowing they had to do something, no matter how exhausted their bodies complained to be.

"What do we do?" asked Magmortar flatly, standing up from his leaning position on a gas pump. "If we just keep running, they're bound to catch up eventually."

Both of the women looked at him in horror.

"Are you out of your mind? There's no way we can _confront _them," Electabuzz said exasperatedly. "We have a much better shot putting as much distance as we can between them."

Magmortar turned to Electivire. "What do you think?" he questioned.

Electivire glanced off in the distance, staring at the threat that drew ever nearer, wondering what was best for him, but mostly for his family, his wife's babbling about safety and such falling on deaf ears.

"We fight," he concluded, drawing a deep breath and standing up tall. "Well, me and Magmortar at least, the rest of you head for the forest." He turned towards Elekid. "That includes you buddy."

Electzbuzz stared at him, her mouth gaping open. "Have you gone _insane _," she demanded. "You don't stand a chance against them. I appreciate what you do for us in protecting the house back in the city, but this… this is madness; there's way too many of them," she finished, tears of desperation starting to pour down her cheeks.

Electivire looked sorrowfully at her. There wasn't any time to argue; the beasts were about a football field away now, and he could hear their eerie screeches at this point. "Mag's right," he sighed. "They _will _eventually catch us, and we want to be able to bring the fight to them when we're ready."

"But-

"No, there isn't time to argue," he said, words expelled from out his mouth at light-speed. "Take care of the others, I trust you to look after them."

They were within fifty yards now, so everyone began to jog to the edge of the parking lot except Magmortar, who charged at them, starting the assault, with Magmar crying after him.

"You have to do this for Elekid," Electivire stated firmly.

Tears were now flooding down her cheeks like a waterfall, but she nodded, so he turned to Elekid and encouraged. "Don't worry buddy, I promise you I'll come back for you," he assured, patting him on the head. "Take care of your momma for me."

With that, both parties started to separate, with Electabuzz and Elekid backing away so they could glance at him for perhaps the last time.

"Run, don't look back!" he called after them, then he spun around, greeted with a view of about sixty monsters running towards him. About 10 yards away, the rest were being rounded up by Magmortar as flames poured out of his arms, and curses flowed from his lips.

Electivire jumped into the air, winding up his arms so as to charge up more electricity, then he released a stunning barrage of power in the form of a Thunder attack, sending the brutes stumbling to the ground while others pressed on, drawing within feet of Electivire.

Electivire started to run backwards as fast as he could, the carnivorous crowd reaching for him, while he continued to dish out electric attacks.

But this was doing very little, as the seemingly invincible creatures merely returned to their feet and re-joined the horde. At the opposite end of the parking lot, Magmortar was starting to feel overwhelmed as well; the herd continuing on despite the flames consuming their flesh.

_I can't believe this is how it's going to end, _Electivire thought to himself, firing off as many thunderbolts as he could muster. _D__ead at a gas station. _

Suddenly, a light bulb came on inside his brain; he had a plan. He rushed over to join Magmortar, bringing his undead friends with him. Magmortar was not happy with this, leading the crowd in a way to where Electivire could join him at the front of the train he was running.

"We should be running them in two smaller circles, not one _big _circle," Magmortar griped exhaustedly.

"Listen," began Electvire, ignoring both his friend's complaints and the monster's growls, which seemed to grow stronger the weaker they felt. "I'm gonna punch a hole in a gas pump, then you light it on fire and we RUN."

Magmortar fed him a look of shock. "That's suicide," he gasped,

"So is this," Electivire stated truthfully.

Magmortar did not argue back, so Electivire gave a tremendous burst of speed, scurrying up ahead, winding his arm backwards, and slamming his fist down upon a gas pump in the form of a Brick Break. Then he continued on, and Magmortar aimed his cannons at the gas leaking out of a hole in the machine as he passed by.

He didn't even need to use his own flames, one of the savages already on fire ignited it by stepping into it. The gasoline flared up with a _whoosh_, which then turned into a deafening _BOOM_, as the whole gas station suddenly exploded, sending Electivire, Magmortar, and all the monsters literally thirty feet into the air.

Electivire landed on the hard, unforgiving ground at the opposite end of the street, rolling around from the momentum and settling on his rear, his head jerking forward. He stood up and observed his surroundings, looking to see where Magmortar landed, and if he and the demons where still alive.

Shrapnel was still sailing through the air, including a dismembered head, which promptly landed in Electivire's hands like a ball. Electivire jumped up in disgust, dropping the head to the ground.

"MAG!" he cried out. "MAGMORTAR!"

"Over here," came a weak voice behind him. Electivire wheeled around, then noticed Magmortar lying sprawled across the ground about twenty feet away. He rushed off in his direction, falling into a kneeling position beside him, fearing the worst.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Magmortar grimaced, pulling himself to a sitting position. "I'll be fine," he declared, butting on a brave smile.

Electivire blew a sigh of relief, looking around to see what damage they dealt upon the herd of beasts.

Quite a lot actually; only a few remained, and they were all crawling around on the ground, some of them missing their lower halves.

Magmortar slowly ascended to his feet with a grimace, putting a hand on Electivire's shoulder. "No time to sit around admiring the view; we have to get to our families," and with that, he trudged off in the direction they had gone off in.

Electivire stared after him. "Yes sir," he finally said, smiling and taking off after him.

* * *

A small blue face with an orange beak peered out of a dumpster. Quicker than it had appeared, the teal face shot back into the dumpster at what it had seen.

"They're still wandering the area, but I don't think they've seen us," Piplup, owner of the blue face said to Cyndaquil, who was silently whimpering in the corner.

"Where's Chimchar?" he asked, having just woken up, not aware of the horrible thing that had happened to their dear primate friend.

"He," Piplup started, taking a mournful sigh. "He didn't make it."

With that, Cyndaquil renewed his sobs in the corner. Piplup couldn't really blame him, after all, he had just come into the world a short time ago, and now he was experiencing this. _And what is this even? S_he thought. _W__hat in the world has happened to the humans? _

However, she knew she didn't have much time to think about the why and what of it, only the how: how to survive this horror.

She took another peek outside. The brutes were scattered all around the immediate area, spread out in just the right way to where there was no good escape route they could take without meeting someone.

She dived back into the dumpster and rolled back to the bottom of the pile, patting Cyndaquil on the head.

"We will get through this," she smiled at him.

"Are you sure? Chimchar was stronger than both of us combined, and they got him," Cyndaquil pessimistically moaned.

"Exactly, and he died so we could escape, so we can't let him die in vain; his memory will be honored if we stay strong and fight our way through this," she encouraged.

A few seconds, then, "Even if we do get back, Totodile has probably gotten the others to leave us behind," Cyndaquil sighed.

"Mudkip and Turtwig would die before they deserted us. You know that," Piplup reassured.

Cyndaquil gave another sigh, which eventually evolved into a smile. "I guess you're right; they always are looking out for me."

Piplup beamed at him. "Yes they are sweetie, and we must make it back to them so we don't break their hearts either. What say you? Are you ready to head back?"

Cyndaquil stared ahead deep in thought, then he held his head up, signifying a change in confidence. "Ready if you are," he declared.

Piplup presented him one last smile, then hiked to the top of the pile of slimy trash and flung the door open, ducking back as soon as she did so the monsters wouldn't notice her.

After a good minute, she timidly raised her head again, seeing if they had spotted her. They hadn't.

With that, she beckoned for Cyndaquil to rise to the top with her. She scanned around, searching for a route of escape. She spotted one that just might work. You see, the dumpster they were currently resting in was against a long wall of a building, which, across from it, were wide grassy fields at the edge of town, which was where most of the demons roamed. To her left, along the wall, was a steady population of them as well. However, to her right near the wall, there were only four or five of them.

She planned to sneak along down the right side of the wall, hoping to avoid the few beasts that were grazing around in that area, but if she didn't, at least there would only be a few of them to deal with. After that, she would go around the corner of the building, hopefully avoiding any more of those things before making it back to camp.

"All right," she turned to Cyndaquil. "Let's go."

With that, she and he stealthily lowered themselves off the dumpster, hanging from it before dropping to the ground. They both looked around; a beast about 20 yards away was looking in their direction, but had not begun their way yet, suggesting that he wasn't sure if they were food or not yet.

"Don't… move… a muscle," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Cyndaquil didn't, nor did he whisper back, indicating he got the message.

However, the demented human obviously didn't get the memo, stumbling over towards them, his mouth growing increasingly wider and his pace quickening. Shortly, he broke into a run, reaching out for them with his arms, snarling wildly, attracting all the other monsters.

Piplup cried out in frustration; nothing seemed to be working out for them, so she turned to Cyndaquil. "Run," she ordered.

* * *

"It's been ten minutes; we're going out for them," Mudkip declared, motioning with his head for Turtwig to follow them. Turtwig nodded.

"Don't forget a jacket. I hear its cold outside," Totodile grinned after him.

Mudkip rolled his eyes. "Go to hell."

Suddenly, Charmander sneaked up behind Totodile, bashing the back of his head with his own. Totodile dropped to the ground, knocked out cold.

"Let's just go on out, find the others, and leave him here to rot," Charmander offered, saying so in a quite agitated tone.

Mudkip stared at his enemy, letting out a sigh. "There was no reason to do that, Charm, and no, we're not going to just leave him here," he declared.

"But we can't take him _with _us," Charmander stated exasperatedly. "Have you seen what he's done? To you no less."

"Look, we'll tie him up. Make sure he agrees to play nice."

"You really think he's gonna honor whatever oath he makes while tied up and threatened? Do you really think he'd honor any promise at all?"

"Maybe not, but we can't leave him here to die like some common animal."

"Come on, earlier you said there'd be no place for him once we met up with Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and the others."

"I did say that, but I only said that so he'd feel intimidated, not because I meant it. Hell, I didn't even say I'd do it anyway; I said Bulbasaur'd do it."

"Look, Charmander," Turtwig said, speaking up. "How would you like it if we knocked you out and left you there to fend for yourself?"

Charmander looked at them, giving them a look of exasperation. "I didn't do _anything._ All I did was try to help you guys. Last time I ever make that mistake," with that, he sulked over to the couch. "I guess I'll just await Totodile's wrath when he gets up."

After about five minutes that felt like a thousand years, in which an awkward silence loomed around the room, Totodile stirred, grabbing the back of his head and rising to his feet. Then he realized what had happened

"WHO DID THIS TO ME?!" he demanded to know. "I WILL WRING YOUR SCRAWNY LITTLE NECK!"

"I did it," said Turtwig.

"That ain't true. I could see you and that dumbass fish," he said, pointing at Mudkip.

"It was me," Charmander stated nonchalantly.

Totodile spun around.

"You?" he asked quizzingly. Then, suddenly, he burst into a roar of laughter. "That's some funny shit there. Good prank," he said to a confused crowd.

"Uh, what?" Charmander asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"You know; it's all good, fun and games and everything, no hard feelings about the head thing. Come on over, let's talk."

Charmander jumped off the couch, gingerly walking over to where Totodile stood. He flinched as Totodile reached out for him, which turned out to merely be him putting his arm around Charmander in a friendly manner.

"Let's go out and get those guys back," Totodile smiled at him.

Mudkip wondered whether the bump on his head had gotten to him.

"Um... sure?" Charmander half asked, half answered.

"We'll come with you," Turtwig said, looking concerned that Totodile had some revenge scheme in mind.

"And leave the rest to fend for themselves?" Totodile spun around, scowling at him. "That doesn't sound like you at all."

"This doesn't sound like you either," Turtwig said, limping over to come face to face with Totodile, Mudkip following.

"You gentlemen are in no position to perform such a task. Let me do it!" Totodile argued reasonably.

"Totodile, you're not going alone with him," Turtwig stated frankly.

Totodile pulled him to his chest with his hands, staring at him roughly. "Look, time's running out for your friends. If you don't let me do this, which I'm kindly offering you to do, no one's gonna do it at all, and you could've saved their lives."

Turtwig and Mudkip both shook their heads. "No," Mudkip stated in a tone signifying he was done arguing. "But we'll be going anyways."

"Guys come on, even if he does attack me, I can defend myself," Charmander protested.

"We'll work great together," Totodile added in, throwing his arm around Charmander's shoulders again.

Mudkip and Turtwig stared at Charmander. "If you feel confident going with him," Turtwig sighed, "The only advice I give you is that you don't let your guard down."

"I won't," Charmander vowed confidently.

Totodile opened the door. "Let's get on out there, buddy."

Charmander stepped over the threshold, then stared back at Mudkip.

"Take care of yourself," Mudkip smiled, then he turned to glare at Totodile. "If you come back without him, I'll kill you, rest assured."

"That won't be necessary," Totodile said, marching down the street. "You comin' Charm?"

"Yup," Charmander answered, running to catch up with him, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Look, you were right, I don't know what they were talking about in there. We work great together," Totodile smiled at Charmander after they had walked a while.

"Really?" Charmander asked, looking at him and smiling as well.

Totodile stopped walking and looked at him with a pleasant look on his face. "No." With that, he slammed his face into Charmander in the same manner he had done, then punched him across the jaw and let out a water gun, sealing the deal on Charmander's passing out. Then, he grabbed a rock lying nearby and beat him with it until it passed clean through his skull, leaving a huge hole in his head, blood pouring out profusely.

"You should have listened to your friends," Totodile told the dead body.

* * *

**Yeaaaaaaah... pretty brutal. hehe *scratches back of neck***

**Anyway, I'm sorry; it shouldn't have taken so long to get this next chapter out, considering I already had it written up a while ago, but I did still have to read over it and edit and all that, and I was quite busy. The next chapter I should have up sooner rather than later. **

******Thanks to all those who have followed, reviewed, and favorited so far! Keep up the good work! :D**


	5. Of Snakes and Knives

**Hey guys! Sorry, I meant to get this chapter out much sooner, but here it is now. This is by far my longest chapter yet; more than twice the length of the previous longest chapter, and I think it's the best one yet, but that's just me. Let me know what you think. **

* * *

Chapter Four: Of Snakes and Knives

At the end of a long path snaking through an equally long canyon, stood six Pokemon looking up at the tall canyon wall looming above them, a path winding upward.

"Well that looks easier than I expected," Bulbasaur exclaimed. "I thought there would be some kind of epic rock-climb back up."

Umbreon smiled at him. "Nothing too fancy, I'm afraid. Shall we continue onward?"

"Of course," said Bulbasaur.

With that, they began the hike back toward Pallet Town. They had ventured until nightfall, where they sought refuge in the forest across the river and slept there for the night. After that, they rose early in the morning, caught some fish for breakfast (not Pokemon), and continued until they got to the point where they were now; about midday.

"So, this friend of yours," Pikachu said as they continued the climb up the steep path. "What should we expect?"

Umbreon sighed. "You never know what to expect with this fellow. They say he's lived a thousand years, and with that much life experience, he's acquired all kinds of different mannerisms."

"But didn't you say you knew him?" Squirtle asked.

"I know him as well as anyone could hope to know such a person, which is to say, not much at all."

And with that, they continued on in silence until they finally reached the top of the canyon, when Umbreon turned around to address them all. "It would be wise to let me do the talking," he proclaimed.

They all agreed, so he continued on with them closely behind. After they had traveled a good mile, Pallet Town started to come into view, unfortunately, that came with a view of something else: the beasts.

"Use the trees to your advantage," Umbreon whispered at them, taking cover behind a tree in the middle of a large field populated with them.

They all obeyed, ducking behind trees; monsters roaming as close as a few feet away from some of them. Squirtle, one of the Pokemon with a monster in close range, could hear the raspy growl emitting from the demon's throat, so he withdrew into his shell, praying the beast wouldn't notice him despite the close proximity.

However, he had false hope, for after a short while he felt himself being picked up, hearing a growl increase in volume. He knew if he used an attack, it could attract all the beasts in the field, so he remained still, willing to sacrifice himself so as not to put his friends in danger. However, he soon dropped to the ground, hearing the monster shriek; Bulbasaur had whipped him with his vines as soon as he witnessed Squirtle's capture, forcing the beast to the leaf-infested ground.

He was not pleased with this, rising to his feet and starting towards Bulbasaur, growling. However, Umbreon took that moment to tackle the beast back to the ground, twisting his head around with his mouth, causing his neck to snap. With that, Umbreon gracefully laid the former human's body on the ground.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," he whispered in a mournful tone.

With that, he nodded his head, urging everyone forward. The other beasts had miraculously not noticed all the commotion, merely continuing to stumble around while the Pokemon were assaulting their ally.

Squirtle gave Bulbasaur a nod of gratitude before following Umbreon with the others. Suddenly, a rustling noise was heard above them. They all looked up, Tepig letting out a small screech. Treecko, who had been traveling through the trees, emerged from the branches above, hanging on with one hand, and frantically motioning for Tepig to shush with the other. It was too late; a monster began to stumble over in their direction upon hearing the noise.

"Into the trees!" Umbreon roared, daring to shout since more monsters had already begun to flood their area. He leaped onto a branch in one graceful bound.

The rest of the Pokemon struggled more than Umbreon. Bulbasaur quickly curled one of his vines around a tree branch and took Tepig in the other. Then he pulled himself up, his vines acting like a pulley; Pikachu and Squirtle hanging on to him, who barely missed the outstretched arm of the monsters before reaching the top where Treecko helped them onto a branch.

"It just keeps getting harder, doesn't it," Tepig sighed.

"Do not lose spirit, young ones," Umbreon called a couple trees away. "Keep a steady pace and follow me to the rooftops."

Indeed, if they continued hopping from tree to tree, they would eventually reach a tree that was close enough to the roof of a house to make a dangerous-looking jump.

"We're coming," yelled Treecko, who had rolled his eyes at Umbreon's mention of "young ones," then took off down the tree branch and started to lunge from branch to branch with little to no trouble.

"Well," said Pikachu. "We better catch up with them."

"Maybe you guys," Tepig sighed. "But do I look like I can jump?"

"And I'm not exactly an Olympic hurdler myself," Squirtle chimed in.

"Relax," Bulbasaur said. "Hold on to me; I'll use my vines."

"So we're gonna Tarzan it, huh?" Squirtle asked.

Bulbasuar grunted in response, already focusing his attention on extending his vines to the tree next to them, wrapping them around a high-up branch. "Pikachu, can you jump?" Bulbasaur asked, concernedly.

"I think so," came the answer. Everyone watched as Pikachu climbed a little further up the bark of their tree, then pushed off hard with his legs, over the crazed humans' heads, and onto a branch hanging from the next tree, where he landed on his torso, then slid off, holding on with his hands and hoisting himself back up. "I'm good," he called back.

With that, Bulbasaur grabbed Tepig with a vine and Squirtle grabbed onto his body, as they swung across to Pikachu's branch, who caught Bubasaur's ear as he lost his foothold and began to tumble backwards.

"Not the ear!" Bulbasaur groaned as they took a secure position on the tree.

They all looked out, down towards the house they were aiming for. They still had a long way to go.

However, several minutes later - in which they had swung from tree to tree about twenty times, the starving beasts always at their heels - they came to the final tree, where Treecko and Umbreon were waiting for them across the gorge.

"Jump for it, I'll catch you if anything goes wrong," Treecko encouraged.

With that, Pikachu hurried and vaulted to the other side with relative ease. "Come on guys; it's easy!" He called back.

So, Bulbasuar, with no room for backing up to create momentum with, took a deep breath, glanced down at the consequences of failure below, and took a mighty leap, landing on the slanting surface, and securing himself with help from Treecko.

After that, Bulbasaur reached out for Squirtle and Tepig with his vines, pulling them in, then he perched on the roof.

Umbreon smiled at everyone's success. "Now, we must seek cover until the crowd has dispersed."

They all agreed, so they hustled over, taking positions behind windows and sitting there for ten minutes of complete silence.

After the ten minutes, Umbreon eased out of his position and peered over the edge of the roof. He was greeted with the welcome sight of monsters stumbling around everywhere, having forgotten about their previous attempts at Lunch.

Umbreon blew a sigh of relief. "We shall press onward," he declared, hiking up to where the others were. "They are of no threat to us now."

Everyone was overjoyed at the newfound safety. Tepig nearly shouted in joy, but Treecko put a hand to his mouth, glaring at him.

"Sorry," Tepig apologized.

With that, they traveled to the edge of the roof facing the other side; the side with the road in which they were headed. Bulbasaur lowered them all gently to the ground one by one, then attached his vines to the chimney and lowered himself, untangling the vines once he reached the bottom.

"Shall we proceed?" Umbreon asked to the crowd at large.

They all agreed, so they continued through the town, sticking to the sides of houses and always peering out from behind them to check for monsters. They continued this process with no incidents until they made it out of town.

"Wait, hold on, didn't you say your friend was _inside _the town?" Treecko asked.

"I did indeed, however, the boundaries of the town reach well beyond just the buildings and pathways," came Umbreon's answer.

No one thought it necessary to argue, so they continued on, noticing that they were going along the edge of the canyon which they had dove into just yesterday. Eventually, once they had walked a good twenty minutes, they came to a little drop that ran deep into the ground, but was still a good hundred feet above the bottom of the canyon. They slid down the fairly-steep-but-not-steep-enough-to-fall-off wall, and Squirtle and Pikachu both went over to the edge and peered down at the bottom of the canyon.

"Why didn't you just lead us through the canyon and have us try to climb up here rather than have us hike all the way through the canyon and double-back through Pallet Town?" Squirtle asked exasperatedly.

"My dear fellows, there _is_ no way up except for the one I showed you; we would be doing even more backtracking had we come all the way down here, the walls are impossible to climb."

With that, Umbreon directed his attention to a hole in the wall, motioning for the other pokemon to follow him as he stepped through, into the cave.

They stepped through the narrow hole, and were immediately greeted with a sharp plummet of the temperature, feeling as though it were below freezing compared to the rather humid weather outside.

"Arceus, it's cold," muttered Tepig, teeth chattering.

"You're affected by cold when you literally have fire burning inside you?" asked Treecko.

Tepig gave no answer, so they continued on in silence, until they came across a winding staircase that appeared to be made out of solid rock descending down into the darkness, to the point of where they couldn't follow it any longer.

"Let me go first," Umbreon ordered, beginning his descent down the long, dark, winding path. After Umbreon had started a few paces downward, testing the steadiness of the stairs, he motioned for the rest to follow.

The journey downward was most unpleasant. No one could see a thing, so they kept bumping into each other, with many grunts and swear words exchanged amongst each other whilst rubbing heads. It was also as eerie as can be, as the only noise that could be heard, aside from the hushed complaints of the group, was the gradual drip of the water rolling off the tall ceiling and erupting on the cavern floor.

They had been going on like this for a good ten minutes, before they felt the floor begin to expand out drastically, signaling they had reached the bottom.

"Are we almost through this? This place is as creepy as all hell," Squirtle whispered to Umbreon. No one knew why they felt the need to whisper, but it was as though the very dungeon itself was daring them to speak aloud, holding them at gunpoint.

"Not quite; we have a good ways to go," came the answer that initiated a good number of groans.

They continued on through the cold, long, dark cave for nearly thirty more minutes, until, finally, Umbreon motioned for them to stop. At this point their eyes had become somewhat adjusted to the dark, so they could see that they were standing near a thin, rock bridge stretching out over what looked like a bottomless hole. "Be very careful," Umbreon warned, before turning his attention to the wall nearby.

After a solid minute, it dawned on them that Umbreon was doing nothing but stare at the wall, perched on his hind legs.

"This guy's lost it," Treecko muttered to Bulbasaur.

"He's gotten us this far," Bulbasaur whispered back.

"And where is _this far_ exactly?" Treecko challenged. "We're in the middle of a cavern, it's as dark as outer space, and all this for seemingly no rea-"

At that moment, a loud vibration seized the eerie quietness that had been gripping the air, which all the other Pokémon had felt other than Bulbasaur and Treecko. They all leaped backwards in fright, except for Umbreon, who remained completely still and quiet, staring at the same wall, which was the source of all the noise, having begun to split in half and raise itself to the ceiling. After the two large rock-pieces met the top with a bang, Umbreon turned to the other Pokémon, who were looking on in shock. "He's in here. Remember, do not speak a word. I shall handle the discussion." With that, he strode inside the opening the wall had exposed, the rest reluctantly, and ever-so-cautiously following suite.

They emerged into what was a truly spectacular room. It was completely wreathed in the shiniest sort of gems you can imagine; gold. Silver. Crystal. Emerald. Ruby. Sapphire. The sparkling walls reached out well above their heads, standing at perhaps a thousand feet high. Width wise, the room was about five-hundred feet in a circular shape. At the farthest end of the room from where they were, there stood a majestic waterfall, spilling out of the roof of the cavern, and landing in a small pool of water. It was mysteriously quiet despite its enormity, and they had not heard it at all before they entered the room.

They had not much time to admire the view, for before long, an angry voice spoke out into the dark. "Who dares enter my domain?" growled the deep, rumbling voice that shook the earth, sounding as though it were coming from beneath the ground.

"One that has served you well!" Umbreon shouted back.

At that, the ground beneath them began to vibrate, increasingly more intense with each passing second, until finally, a huge, grey, shiny face burst through the ground, forcing everyone except Umbreon to the hard, cavern floor from the impact. The face was revealed to be much more than a face, as a large chain of shiny metal attached to the face kept ascending from the ground until the creature before them stood at over thirty feet tall.

Umbreon took a bow before the creature. "Oh mightiest of all serpents, king of the underworld, I seek council with thee regarding an urgent matter. Please accept it with your humble servant."

In response, Steelix pointed his head at the heavens and let out a roar, then glared down upon Umbreon and the poor, shivering starter pokemon. "And why should I help you, small cat? Word is you've been banished from your own kingdom."

Umbreon rose to his feet, looking up at Steelix with the calmest of expressions, a stark contrast to the rest of the pokemon, who were trembling in fear. Tepig even tried to sneak off at one point; if it weren't for Bulbasaur's vines, he would have succeeded, and who knows how the snake would have reacted.

"That is neither here nor there," Umbreon responded. "I have come to speak with you about other matters, quite important."

At this, Steelix bowed his head, looking, and speaking, mournfully. "The plague," he finally offered after a long silence.

"Aye," Umbreon answered in a much more quiet voice, changing his tone to reflect Steelix's.

Steelix glared at him, his old swagger returning. "And what, pray tell, could I possibly know of this?"

Umbreon tilted his head for a moment, as if pondering what to say next. "I've heard there's a possible remedy for this disease… one you may be aware of."

Steelix intently looked at the pokemon for a moment, then stooped down to where his head was even with Umbreon's, causing the cavern to sake as he moved around. "There is… a single herb, one that is prophesied to cure the mightiest of infections, the deadliest of plagues, but it is not worth the price you would have to pay to acquire it. It is protected by many deadly traps and loyal guards who believe the plant to be sacred.

"Tell me Umbreon, are you willing to risk your own life, no, are you willing to most assuredly _lose _your own life over a simple leaf whose only proof of its great capacity comes from age-old fables?"

Umbreon backed away for some space. "You have not been to the outside since the outbreak. You do not know the horrors I have known. These beasts will stop at nothing to destroy every last living organism, and they are well armed to do so. Not only do they outnumber every last survivor out there, but they are reinforced by what we believe to be Arceus himself, and the rest of the Legendary Guild. It may be a bleak hope, this herb, but what other hope do we have? If these demons are not stopped, they will claim every last crevice upon earth, they will inherit every last dungeon of the deepest parts of the underworld. They will drive out every village, feast upon every last Pokemon there is. No one knows why our own god would do such a thing. Frankly, that is least of our concerns right now. What we do know is this: no one will be safe, no one will escape… not even you, my lord. If you think these walls will keep you safe, I should like to see you attempt to repel the horde of thousands of demons once they show up with Arceus himself at your doorstep. "

Steelix returned to his position thirty feet above everyone else, and let out a moan. "Why would you come to me? Clearly, you are well set upon carrying out this deed you propose. What need is there to seek council with me over this matter?"

"You already know," Umbreon firmly inquired, clearly implying that Steelix was avoiding something.

After a few seconds, Steelix, renewing the earth-shattering vibrations that typically occurred when he was active, slithered over to the far end of the hall, sticking his head into the waterfall. After a few seconds in which Steelix shifted his head around inside the tumbling liquid, his face reemerged with a golden object held in his mouth. He slithered back over to where Umbreon stood, dropping the object he had taken from the waterfall at Umbreon's feet.

"Had you not saved my life, you would never have been bestowed such a gift," Steelix whined, turning his head away, trying to forget about the precious gem he had given away.

Umbreon picked it up with his mouth, and put it into a pouch that could have been mistaken for fur under his neck, then turned to walk out the large opening. "I will put it to the best use possible, and you shall have it back one day. You have my word."

Steelix glared down at Umbreon again, as the starters hurried to get out the door behind him. "I don't think so. You will be but rotten meat before we can meet again."

* * *

Electivire and Magmortar stood resting on trees, facing their families with tears running down everyone's cheeks, with all in the group overjoyed at the disposal of the monsters, but especially at the safety of Electivire and Magmortar.

But after many tears were spilt, and many hugs were made, they knew it was time to press on. The moon was well in the sky, and they had absolutely no source of food and water.

So on they pressed, tearing through the forest which they had found near the gas station, harvesting everything they could find. Ponds, berries, squirrels, everything had been ransacked in that area, for there were 6 very needy Pokémon adventuring through the forest, in search of nothing in particular. After a few hours, they decided it was best if they bunkered down for the night, using Magmortar's flamethrower to ignite a fire which they roasted the squirrel they had captured on. During the night, none of the adults slept, though Elekid and Magby slept like rocks, discussing the current, dreadful situation, and taking watch over the camp well into the night.

When morning came, they continued much the same way, collecting everything they could from the trees and ponds. Once they even had a run-in with a single beast, which Electivire disposed of by smashing it's head with a rock. That night went much the same way as the one before it had, then, in the morning, they traveled on again, searching for something to keep them motivated, but finding nothing, and falling into despair over their situation again.

"I… I mean, where on earth did those things even come from, and why are they after us?" An exasperated, teary-eyed Electabuzz asked as they walked along a forest path.

"I don't know," Electivire answered, putting his hand on her shoulder. "But the best thing we can do is press on, there's no telling what those things are, or where they came from, but sitting around, feeling sorry for ourselves isn't going to help anything. We need to toughen up and work through this just as we always have. Our lives before the attack weren't that much different than they are now-

"Oh, there you go again!" Electabuzz wailed, "Before this, we had perfectly good shelter, before this we had a steady resource where we could find food from, before this, we had plenty of water, before this we didn't have monsters trying to eat us alive! Of course our lives were better than they found are now, what on earth could you possibly be-"

"Honey-"

"NO! You need to listen to what I'm-"

"Yes I know, I'm just trying to hel-"

"Trying to help? Trying to help? Well why don't you stop trying and start actually doing-"

"I am doing something, what do you think we've been doing all this time? We've found plenty-"

"We haven't found sh-"

"STOP!" yelled an exasperated Elekid. "Why won't you guys ever stop fighting?" At that, he went over to a nearby rock, plopped down onto it, and buried his face into his hands.

Electivire and Electabuzz exchanged glances of sorrow, while Magmortar, Magmar, and Magby awkwardly looked on at all this. Electivire sighed, and ventured over the where his son sat, kneeling beside him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, mom and me didn't mean to fight," Electivire comforted.

"Yes y'all did," Elekid glared at him, lifting his face from his hands. "You guys always fight, even before all this happened. I'm sick of it." With that, he got up, and proceeded down the path ahead of the rest of them.

"Elekid, wait," Electabuzz called after him, hurrying off in his direction.

Magmortar, and his family followed after them. But Electivire stood staring off into space for a few seconds, deep in thought.

"You comin'?" Magmortar called after him.

"Yeah," said Electivire, snapping out of it. He hurried to catch up with Magmortar. Onward they continued to walk in silence, Electabuzz and Elekid lurking a few meters ahead of them, walking in silence as well after Elekid had shunned her words of comfort.

"Is it true, do we really fight a lot?" Electivire turned to Magmortar after a while.

Magmortar let out a sigh, before turning to Electivire, and whispering. "I thought you would have realized. I'm sorry man, but yeah you do."

Electivire nodded his head in shame. It dawned upon him that they did always fight, and he hadn't even realized it. How much had their selfish quarreling affected their son and their friends? He didn't have much time to think about it, however, because there soon came a loud, snapping of twigs sound from the thick to their left.

"Oh no!" Electivire called out, staring at the place where it had come from. "Get to cover, quickly." He ordered, but it was needless, as everyone was already scrambling towards the opposite side of where the sound came from, ducking behind bushes and logs.

Electivire himself turned to flee, but suddenly he felt a sharp pain across his back, and his legs came out from under him, sending him face-planting into the ground.

"What the hell are you, and what the hell do you want?" A harsh voice that sounded like it could have been used well in the military asked.

Electivire wheeled around to a sight of four Pokémon emerging from the trees: on the rightmost side, stood a tall, green lizard with a calm expression on his face that was a stark contrast to the pokemon that had yelled. He had two long, sharp leaves sticking out of each of his elbows, and a large tail that consisted of many leaves of a different shade of green than the rest of him. Next to him, on the left, there was a much smaller, weasel-looking pokemon. This pokemon was dark blue in color. He had two sharp claws on both his hands, and his feet, and a tail that looked like three feathers stuck out at his back. To the left of him was a similar looking pokemon, but he was about a foot taller, had three claws instead of two, and carried some sort of crown resting upon his head. That pokemon was the one that had spoken. Finally, next to him, on the left, was a figure of about equal height to the one that had spoken. He resembled a bipedal dog, with large ears sticking up, a metal spike rested on each of his hands, and another one protruding from his chest. His body was coated with three colors: blue, yellow, and black.

"Where the hell are you going?" Repeated the Weavile. With that, he started towards him, but Sceptile held him back.

"He's just passing through, what harm could come of it?"

Obviously, Sceptile had spoken too soon, because soon Magmortar came bursting back from the shrubbery, pointing his arm cannons at the new intruders, with Elekid standing beside him, looking at the new pokemon without the slightest hint of fear.

"Get back," Electivire muttered to him, while Magmortar declared: "You fellas had best go back to where you came from, or it ain't gonna be pretty for you," he started to inch towards them.

Sceptile thrust his arms into the air in a surrendering motion, putting his right hand in front of the others, and pushing them backwards, whilst maintaining his left hand in the air. "We don't want any trouble, guys." He reasoned. "We were just looking for supplies for our group."

"Group?" Electivire spoke up, motioning Magmortar to lower his arms. "What group?"

_You idiot _Electivire noticed Weavile mouth to Sceptile. "There is no group besides ourselves, now you fellows had better start heading the other way, or there's gonna be trouble." Weavile said to them.

"What he means to say," Sceptile went on, ignoring Weavile as he had to be tackled to the ground by Lucario as he launched a shadow claw towards Sceptile's face. "Is that we have a much larger group back into the woods a bit. We're set up in a large clearing, and we were just splitting off into smaller groups to look for usable supplies. You all would be more than welcome to join us."

"We- can't- trust- them!" Weavile groaned, trying to break free from Lucario's firm hold on him from the ground.

"What could they possibly be up to? They're just like us, trying to make their way in this very odd, truly frightening situation. Their trainers probably turned on them like ours did." Sceptile lectured Weavile incredulously, as Magmar, Magby, and Electabuzz emerged from the trees as well. "And they obviously have young ones they need to take care of."

Weavile merely continued to wriggle around and struggle, as everyone else in the area watched his failing attempts at setting himself free.

Lucario, becoming bored with the situation, took Weavile's head, and slammed it into the ground, causing him to pass out, and be still. "He should be more agreeable now," Lucario said, getting to his feet.

Sneasel stared down at his brother. "Bitch deserved it," he chuckled. "Welcome to the group guys. Sorry, my brother's highly paranoid."

They all exchanged thank-yous and your-welcomes, for Electivire and company were all very eager to join into a much larger group, as they figured it could only be safer.

"We'll go on our run later," declared Sceptile. "Let's show our new friends to where they'll be staying," with that, Sceptile beckoned for all to follow, as he disspeared into the deep of the woods, Lucario picking up Weavile, and following after him with Sneasel. Electivire and Magmortar exchanged excited looks, then motioned for their families to follow them as they trudged off after Sceptile. It looked like they had found safety.

* * *

Totodile inspected the knife in his grip, turning it over in his hands. "This should do well," he grinned to himself, letting his arm fall limp onto his side with the knife he found resting in his right one.

He had raided the nearest house after the murder of Charmander, going through everything to try to find the perfect knife to use for his next 'project'. _They left me with no choice. _Totodile thought to himself. _It's a shame, but they have obviously brought their deaths upon themselves._

He turned towards the door, wrenching it open, and stepping out into the street, then turning to face the direction of the house where he was going. A plan was gradually forming in his mind. After he was satisfied that it would work, he smiled to himself, and took off towards the house.

* * *

"Come on, you've got to tell us what this thing is for," Squirtle said to Umbreon for the umpteenth time, as he and the rest of the group strolled down the dirt path, back towards Pallet Town where they were ready to meet their friends.

Umbreon once again turned towards them, remarkably patiently, and said, "I am sorry, but there is no need to understand such a thing at this point. In time, I assure you, you will know."

"Why are you like this?" Treecko asked, rolling his eyes. "Is there anything you're willing to tell us? You won't tell us why you were banished, you won't tell us what this tiny little stone does. Is there any reason for this secrecy, or to you just like messing with us for no reason?"

"You can trust me, my friend. My deepest apologies that I am not able to convey you much information as it is now, but rest assured you will know. However, that time is certainly not now, as I have an errand to run right now, and will be needing to leave you people here."

"What?" asked Bulbasaur, shocked. "I thought you were supposed to help us look for our friends!"

"I am truly sorry, but I did lead you out of the canyon, did I not? And I saved you from the horde of monsters that had you cornered, did I not? Listen, I have to go meet with another acquaintance. He will know the best way to go about using this gem, and I have to get it done with all haste. Meet me in Pewter City in five days precisely, and we shall travel to the northern kingdoms together, the land where the sacred herb grows. Unless, of course, you'd rather not."

They all agreed that it would be best if they traveled with him, so, knowing he had to handle the issue with his other friends as quickly as possible, they agreed that they would meet him in Pewter City in five days time. Satisfied, Umbreon took exchanged goodbyes, then darted off into the distance, disappearing off into the horizon, never slowing his pace.

"Well, we had better find the others then," Bulbasaur finally declared.

"Yes, of course," Squirtle and Pikachu both said, , with tsohat, they crept into the edge of the town that they, with any luck, would soon be safely leaving with everyone else.

The town was quite large, filled with the ends of all sorts of houses, shops, even a train station. They knew to keep off the road, so they decided to weave their way in and out of houses, going around the perimeter of the town, before cutting into the middle.

It was eerily quiet as they began their search of the first house, coming out with no luck. Not even the birds were chirping, as they usually were at this time of day. The stillness was not necessarily a bad thing, however, as it meant there were no demons they had to deal with, but there was something that felt off about it.

No one spoke a word either, communicating mostly with body language, not daring to mix noise into the silent air, fearing they would attract the deadly demons. After a few houses though, they began to hear the growls of the beasts, which began to grow steadily in volume.

Soon, the noise became as loud as a train, and even worse, suddenly two small figures about their size appeared between the same two houses they were in between, with a huge crowd of monsters in tow.

"GUYS!" Piplup cried out, who was with Cyndaquil in front of the herd. "RUN!"

They didn't need to be told a second time. All five of them spun around, and took off in the direction Piplup and Cyndaquil were running in, allowing them to catch up despite the closer proximity of monsters that entailed.

"I hoped we would meet under better circumstances," Bulbasaur panted to Piplup. "Are the others ok?"

"Chimchar didn't make it," Piplup cried out, allowing that to sink in for a little bit. "But everyone else is safe back at a house we are bunking in. But we can't lead them back to where the others are. It's far too dangerous for them."

"Of course not, we will find a way to lose them," Squirtle encouraged.

Piplup smiled in spite of the situation. "I'm so glad to see you guys made it back. I knew y'all were alive."

There was no time to answer, although everyone was happy to see everyone else, but there was, at the moment, the more pressing fact that they had just reached an alleyway, and it looked as though a dead end loomed ahead. They all gave a burst of speed, then looked back at the horde following them. There was no way out, it was the end.

"Stand and fight!" Yelled Treecko, firing off a bullet seed.

Several pokemon fired off an attack, except Tepig, who sunk to the ground, just giving up. For good reason too; the attacks were pushing them back, but they were still gaining momentum, and were soon going to be upon them.

That's when it happened. Cyndauil, not saying a word, stepped out in front of the rest of the group, showing no sign of panic, and looking the herd straight in the eye, a vengeful look gripping his face. He growled at the horde, a motion which they returned, stretching out their arms as they drew ever nearer. Suddenly, an orange aura presented itself around the edge of Cyndaquil's body, and the flames on his back burst into life with a mighty roar. Then, Cyndauil gave a battle cry, and released a tsunami of flames from his mouth, such as no one in the group had ever seen from the strongest Pokémon before. The almighty waves of fire consumed the horde, completely vaporizing several right on the spot, and tossing the rest well into the air, when they collided with the ground, several of their arms and legs came off, and none of them were able to return to their feet. They just rolled around on the ground, moaning rather than growling at that point.

With that tremendous display of power, Cyndaquil collapsed to the ground, fainting from the pure exhaustion of his effort.

Everyone stared after him in utter shock.

"What- the hell- did I just see?" Treecko asked.

"That, my friend, was Blaze," Bulbasaur explained. "But much more powerful than any other Blaze I've ever seen."

"That was amazing," Squirtle told to the limp body of Cyndaquil, patting him on the back. "Wait 'til Totodile hears about this."

"Speaking of," Piplup piped up. "Totodile has seized complete control of us. It's a little absurd to be honest."

"Nothing we can't handle, I'm sure," said Bulbasaur confidently.

"That's what I hoped you would say," said Piplup, joyfully. "We should get back to the house now. Cyndauil deserves a nice long rest, and travel will be much easier now that these bastards are toast."

"Absolutely," Bulbasaur agreed, gently picking up Cyndaquil with his vines, and placing him on this bulb with his vines still securing him. With that, they all stepped around the demons that were still frying on the ground, dodging the occasional weak attempt from a monster that still had arms to grab them.

Once they reached the end of the alley, they took off towards the camp, in much better spirits then they were just a minute ago. "It will be much easier from here," Pikachu happily declared.

* * *

"Damn, they're taking a while again," Mudkip sighed, directing his voice at Turtwig.

"Yeah, I figure it's about time to go after them," Turtwig answered.

"Now, now," Snivy exclaimed. "Your leg is in no condition to take you off on such a journey. It'd be better if I go."

"That's very kind of you," Turtwig began, offering a smile. "But you should stay here, and look after Oshawott and Torchic as me and Mudkip go off. I'm sure my leg will hold up, besides, I have my Razor Leaf. All you have is physical moves."

"I really wouldn't feel comfortable risking your life," Mudkip spoke up.

"You guys are all so kind for volunteering to go with us, but people keep doing just that, and they end up getting hurt. First, Chimchar, Piplup, and Cyndaquil left, and we haven't seen them in what? Forty minutes? Now, Totodile and Charmander are gone too, and I'd rather no one else risk themselves over something I should have done in the first place," Turtwig followed up with.

"Ok, then," Snivy answered. "Good luck you guys."

Mudkip nodded "You ready?" He asked, turning to Turtwig.

"Ready if you are," Turtwig said in response.

"Remember," Oshawott said, standing up from where he had been sitting. "If anything happens to you guys, know that we love both of you for standing up to Totodile. We will forever hold you two close. Best of luck."

Turtwig smiled. "It was nothing, you are way overstating it," Mudkip nodded in agreement.

"Oh, but I'm not. I'm way understating it. Look, no one else had the guts to stand up to him. He's proven to be dangerous and powerful before, but that didn't stop you guys."

"I'm just doing what my parents would've wanted me to do," Turtwig softly responded, his mind drifting to memories of his parents, who had died many years ago.

As soon as the thoughts came, they were gone, as some kind of sawing noise suddenly struck the ceiling above them.

"You guys hear that?" Torchic asked nervously.

Silence followed, because everyone was too busy paying attention to the noise to notice what Torchic said, when, suddenly, the magnificent chandelier above them tore itself off the ceiling, and crashed onto the floor, glass flying everywhere, landing directly on Torchic, crushing him instantly.

"NO!" Mudkip cried, rushing over to where the chandelier was, and throwing it off of his body, to see what was left of Torchic. Everyone stared on in horror, until a cackling sound pierced the air.

Suddenly, a figure jumped from the hole in the ceiling that the chandelier had created. It was Totodile.

Totodile let out a water gun attack at Mudkip, sending him flying into a bookshelf, where he landed on the ground, books piling up on him.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Oshawott screamed as Totodile pressed towards the other three, pointing his knife at them.

Snivy and Turtwig each let out their attacks, cursing him out in horror and anger. Totodile merely grabbed Snivy's vines and flung him against the wall, passing him out on the spot. In turn, he parried the leaves from Turtwig with the knife, then aimed a water gun at his hurt leg, which caused him to yelp in pain, and sent him soaring at the counter at the edge of the kitchen.

Then, before Oshawott could attack, he threw the knife right at him. The blade pierced his left eye, sending him to the ground, a pool of blood oozing from his unconscious body. Totodile cackled again, then retrieved the knife from Oshawott's eye socket, and walked towards the incapacitated Turtwig, who was trying to stand.

"You people left me with no choice," Totodile declared, pointing the knife at Turtwig.

"We left you with every choice in the world besides this one, fool!" Turtwig weakly argued. "Kill me if you wish, but that will solve nothing, and you will have to live with your sins all the rest of your days."

"Not if I can help it," yelled Mudkip, who sprinted towards Totodile and let out a mud-shot. Totodile chuckled, easily blocking the mud shot, and grabbing Mudkip as he arrived, throwing him against the wall.

"I'll deal with you later," Totodile called after him. With that, he sunk his knife into the area between Turtwig's head and shell, right on his neck.

Turtwig let out a gurgling sound, and collapsed to the ground, sprawled out on his fours, a defeated look capturing his dying face.

"Aww," Totodile joked. "What's the matter little turtle, can't get up?" He laughed.

"YOU SON OF A *****!" Mudkip roared, charging towards Totodile with the deepest look of hatred gripping his face.

Totodile laughed again, but his face turned to a look of surprise as Mudkip slammed himself into Totodile before he could stab him, showing surprising strength,and sending Totodile crashing into an armchair.

"So be it," Totodile growled, barring his knife. Mudkip let out another mud-shot, but Totodile leaped over it, then charged towards Mudkip, making a slashing motion with his knife. Mudkip abandoned his move, and bravely ran forwards to meet Totodile, ignoring the threat of the knife.

Mudkip jumped over the knife when they met, then bit into Totodile's skull as hard as he could.

"DAMN YOU!" Totodile roared, jabbing his knife at Mudkip. Mudkip released his grip from Totodile's head, but grabbed the knife, throwing it aside, rendering it useless.

"Fine then, I'll take you on without it, again," Totodile declared, rubbing his head. With that, he starting launching off scratch attacks, pressing forward towards the door, Mudkip agilely avoiding each one with alarming speed. When they reached the door, Mudkip jumped over his head, then slammed Totodile into the door, causing him to scream in pain, as he hit directly on his nose.

Mudkip then lunged at Totodile's eye, preparing to bite it. It was Totodile's turn to jump. And jump he did, skillfully avoiding Mudkip's teeth, and then darting through the living room, and back towards the knife.

Mudkip launched a series of mud-shots, ricocheting of the wall, and narrowly missing Totodile, who leaped over a chair, then slid across the tile of the kitchen, retrieving the knife, and standing up with a triumphant look on his face.

"COWARD!" Mudkip raged from across the room.

Totodile did nothing but smile, displaying his sharp, yellow teeth, before renewing his charge at Mudkip. Mudkip once again did the same, and once again jumped once they met, but this time, Totodile ducked as Mudkip tried to bite his skull, then he slashed with his knife, an attack which made contact with Mudkip's gill, causing it to fall off.

Mudkip shrieked out in pain, before swiftly dodging Totodile's knife attacks like he had the scratches. Eventually, Mudkip backed into a couch, and fell to his knees, staring up at Totodile with hatred in his eyes, as Totodile pointed the knife at him.

Totodile gave a look of disgusting satisfaction. "Now, you die," he declared.

Just then, the door burst open, and Totodile wheeled around to see seven pokemon spilling through the room, who each let out their strongest attacks at once, engulfing Totodile in a mixture of flames, water, electricity, and leaves, sending him crashing through the air all the way to the oven, where he slid to the ground, clearly unconscious.

Silence lingered in the room for a brief few seconds, then utter chaos erupted, as the new arrivals poured through the room, gasping in horror at the damage Totodile had caused.

Pikachu rushed over to Oshawott's side and lifted him up, checking his pulse. "He's still alive, but he'll never be able to see out of that eye again," Pikachu declared mournfully.

Mudkip immediately rushed over to see Turtwig, trying to prevent himself from erupting into tears as he looked down upon his dying friend.

"You… fought bravely," Turtwig said, putting on a smile that turned into a grimace.

"As did you, my brother," Mudkip said, unable to prevent the tears rolling down his face. "I will not let you die!"

"You have no choice, death is something all of us must face," Turtwig said, managing a smile this time. "I do not fear it. Death is but the next great journey."

"You can't go, I need you," Mudkip cried, beginning to fall into despair.

"Do not mourn over me, my friend," Turtwig said. "I lived as happy a life as any Turtwig could, and I had such great friends… take care of the others for me." With that, he drew his last breath.

Mudkip bowed his head, as the other pokemon gathered behind Mudkip, each bowing their heads as well, none of them managing to contain their tears.

Immediately after, they took the bodies of Turtwig and Torchic out to the backyard behind them, and gently laid blankets over their cold, broken bodies.

Knowing they had no time to hold a funeral before Totodile would reawaken, they all returned indoors, still crying profusely. Mudkip stayed however, refusing to leave Turtwig's side.

As soon as Totodile woke up, he found himself wrapped in chains. "Hey, get me out of this thing," he yelled, wriggling around.

Squirtle quickly strode over to where Totodile was squirming, and delivered the most powerful punch he had ever delivered, sending Totodile's face slamming into the wall, and breaking one of his teeth off. "If you speak another word, I'll make sure you die the most unpleasant death anyone has ever experienced."

Totodile shut up, despite himself, allowing Squirtle to rejoin the others where they were discussing their next course of action.

Piplup couldn't stop crying, so her sobs continuously ebbed through the conversation.

"What do we do with him?" Pikachu asked.

"We kill him; there's nothing else to do," Treecko stated exasperatedly, shocked at the fact they were thinking of anything other than that. Cyndaquil nodded his agreement.

Bulbasaur sighed, then said: "Turtwig wouldn't have wanted us to kill him. In honor of his memory, we should keep him alive."

"In honor of his memory," Treecko retorted "We should kill him. Because, you know, he was the one that cause Turtwig's death in the first place."

"There are more important things in this world than simple-minded revenge," Bulbasaur declared, "Turtwig understood this, so why can't you? If we murder him in cold blood, how does that make us any better than Tototile himself?"

There was no time to argue, because Totodile had just somehow bit through the chains, making a dash for the door.

"Stop him!" Tepig yelled. "He's dangerous!"

Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Pikachu each wasted no time in rushing after him, following him out through the door. However, they soon noticed a horde of a hundred monsters standing in their way.

Totodile had noticed it too, and was standing right in front of the monsters. After the initial shock, he turned to run but it was too late. The monsters had grabbed him, and were ripping his leg off.

"Help me! No!" Totodile yelled as the other three quickly ran back into the house, slamming the door shut.

"We're going now!" Bulbasaur declared. "Out through the back door!"

He grabbed Oshawott, who was the only unconscious one left, and lead the way out through the back door, everyone else following him, several monsters banging on the front door.

They came out into the backyard, where Mudkip was still grieving, and jumped the fence, all except Mudkip and Squirtle.

"We have to go!" Squirtle called after Mudkip. "Monsters will be on us any second now!"

"Let them come," Mudkip stated, an expression of emptiness riding his face. "I don't care, let them come."

"You'll surely die," Squirtle said exasperatedly.

"I KNOW!" Mudkip roared, turning to face Squirtle, glaring at him. "You'd better go. I'm going to stay here." With that, he returned to Turtwig's side.

Squirtle acknowledged the monsters who were now running through the house, then talked to Mukip, as patiently as he could. "His very last words were asking you to take care of the others. How can you do that if you're dead? Are you going to spit at his memory like that?"

Mudkip roared at Squirtle in a fit of rage, then charged at him. But suddenly, he stopped, coming to his senses.

"You're right," Mudkip concluded, renewing his sobs.

Squirtle glanced at the door, which was about to burst open. "We have to go now, there will be time to mourn later."

Mudkip gradually picked himself up off the ground, then followed Squirtle as he hopped over the fence, taking off after the others, leaving Turtwig and the monsters far behind.

* * *

**There you have it. If you enjoyed/have ideas for improvement, please leave a much-appreciated review!  
**


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